Primary Question: "When splinting is used to improve motion in post-traumatic stiff elbows, is there a significant difference in gains in motion achieved between static progressive or dynamic splint approaches?"

Secondary Question: "Is there a significant difference in patient compliance with static progressive versus dynamic splint use, and does this effect final ulnohumeral motion outcomes?"

Static progressive splinting is a well-established adjunct for restoring elbow motion. Such splints apply a static stress relaxation force to the elbow tissues, which is sequentially increased, as motion is achieved.

Experimental: Dynamic Splint

Device: Dynamic Splint

Dynamic splints are a popular alternative, and apply a constant prolonged force to the tissues as additional motion is achieved.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

All adult patients with post-traumatic elbow contractures in the Hand and Upper Extremity Service at Massachusetts General Hospital are eligible to for enrollment in this study regardless of sex, race or ethnicity.

Exclusion Criteria:

Only English speaking patients will be eligible for the study since questionnaires have not been validated in other languages.

Vulnerable populations will not be recruited.

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01241916